Elderly woman found living with corpses of husband, dogs

DECATUR, Ala. - An elderly Alabama woman, suffering from Alzheimer's, lived in a home with her deceased husband for weeks.

Family members sent police to check on the couple Friday after not hearing from them, and that's when officers made the gruesome discovery.

Authorities say 78-year-old Doris Kirby is now getting treatment at the hospital after they found her living with her dead husband for the last month. The Kirbys lived in a house off Chestnut Street in Decatur. Police say Doris Kirby suffers from Alzheimer's disease and is in poor health.

Dean Hayes lives two doors down from the Kirbys. She's known the family for decades.

"To think that all of us live right here this close and none of us know anything about it," said Hayes.

She says she had a bad feeling when she looked out her window on Friday.

"Police cars was all up and down the road," she said.

She says the victim's son pulled up as an ambulance arrived. That's when he told her that officers found 75-year-old Jessie Kirby lying dead in his bed.

The Morgan County coroner estimates he passed away about four weeks ago from natural causes.

"It'd been a pretty good while since I saw him," said Hayes.

Decatur police say foul play is not suspected.

According to WAFF-TV, neighbors said in addition to Jessie Kirby's body, authorities also discovered the bodies of two dogs on the property.